Stories Of People Who Actually Went Through With A Mail-Order Bride.

This article is based on the AskReddit question "To anyone who has ordered a mail order bride, what was it like and what happened?"

[Source can be found at the end of the article]

1/14. A father of a friend had a mail order bride. He had divorced my friends mother a few years before due to his drinking and accompanying bad mood when drinking. Anyway, he brings over a Philipina lady pretty much half his age. He was about 50 years old. Things went well for a while. They had a child together and she got on well with his kids. But then he started drinking heavier and the problems started and he was abusing her in mostly mental ways but also some physical ways. His son picked up on this and confronted him about it and he kicked her and their child out. He also didn't want to see my friend (his son) anymore. He offers her a place to stay until she can find a place for herself and child to live.

I didn't see him for a few months as I went overseas. When I come back, I find that he has fallen in love with his stepmother and she is pregnant with his child. They ended up getting married after her divorce from his father and from what I hear are still together 15 years later.

-PistonBroke

2/14. I used to work retail with a woman who was a mail order bride. She was a tiny little thing, around 35 years old, and her husband was a very large, stocky white man around 50-55. I thought it was very weird when she first told me, but when I met him and saw them together, it actually seemed like a nice fit. He was always coming into the store to bring her lunch or to buy her things, and pick her up from work on his motor scooter. It was pretty cute watching them ride it together. It seemed like he really enjoyed spoiling her, and when she talked about him, she seemed very much in love with him. It didn't appear that he was particularly wealthy or anything, but he treated her very well and they seemed very happy. Just before I left that job, she had just become pregnant with their first child.

-PrincessPikaboo

3/14. I knew a guy who owned his own business that married a mail-order bride. He got crushed by a skid steer and she now owns the business and has a new husband closer to her age.

-Monikerbored

4/14. My friend has a mail-order bride from the Philippines. He's a scruffy redneck long-haul trucker from West Virginia, she's tiny, slender, and ten years his junior. At first she cooked, cleaned, and kept his bed warm, but after a few years she told him she wanted an education. He put in a ton of overtime and saved up enough to put her through college. She's a physician's assistant now and makes more money than he ever has, but she still makes him dinner and makes a point of always being waiting at the door when he gets back from a long haul. They've been together for 20 years now and its a joy to see them together.

-Snaiperskaya

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5/14. Although my parents were always too ashamed to admit this to anyone but myself and my sister, my mom was a "mail order bride" about 23-24 years ago. This was before all the online companies that do this, so my father had to find my mother in a sort of magazine catalogue of Filipino women. He sent her letters, and she replied, over the course of a year. They finally met and my mom moved to my dad's tiny hometown, got married, and they had two daughters together (one being myself).

They were both looking for a better life, and someone who would treat them better than past partners had. And they both got that, plus it turns out they both have the travel bug. So now they're retired, living a nomadic life travelling the globe, and they got more than they ever hoped for.

Sure, I've always known there were some serious cultural differences between my parents that theyve never been able to fully reconcile. My mom, being from a very traditional village in Northern Philippines has a hard time understanding a lot of North American norms and beliefs, and they butt heads over a lot of small things. These cultural clashes have taught me so much though, and their collective love of travel and culture has inspired me to study Anthropology and travel around the globe. I can't imagine having lived in a home where we didn't eat bacon and rice, pancit and steak, or purple (ube) birthday cakes on a regular basis.

-Dragonflie

6/14. I had a friend of a friend who did it. He had a terrible personality.

He got a truly gorgeous Vietnamese girl (through some bride-to-order agency) who was really sweet and seriously, a catch.

The girl left him as soon as she legally could (having gained citizenship).

Honestly I think the deal worked out really well for both them. I also think if the guy was worthy of her, or even just you know, a sweet guy, she would have stayed.

-jert3

7/14. He was your typical scientist. Mid 40s, quiet, rather bland, wore the same brown suit to work every day, even when the rest of us were in jeans. One day he suddenly had a Filipino wife and two Filipino children aged about 5 and 7.

They didn't seem like they had that much in common at first. She was very outgoing and extroverted, the exact opposite of my coworker. She was so excited to be in a new land, to have a good home and school for her children. I taught her how to ski one winter and although she fell down constantly, she always laughed when she did so. She treated every day like a blessing.

The two of them ended up being very happy together, or as far as I could tell. I don't think they loved each other, but they seemed relatively intimate, and appreciated the opportunities they had been given, a better life for her, and companionship for him.

-IlludiumQXXXVI

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8/14. I know (of) 3 people who got mail-order brides.

One guy was a 40s-50s succesful college professor and fairly known author in his field of study. He got a mail-order bride from China or something. Never saw or met her, but the professor always talked about her and was candid about their arrangement. It was like any other middle-aged professor talking (affectionately) about his wife during lectures. It was cute.

Another guy was a co-worker, around my age too (at the time, early 20s). I was surprised because the guy was reasonably handsome and genuinely likeable. He had a mail-order bride from Korea and was very open about it. She'd stop by the office to drop off lunch for him a few times, and they had a baby son. They were a perfectly normal, happy young couple.

-iScoopPoop

9/14. I (M36) did. My wife (F3) and I just celebrated our 1 year (married) anniversary. We met on a website (like mach.com but for international dating) about 3 years ago. I had been divorced about 3-4 years and not having much luck in the dating scene here. I figured what the heck I would give it a shot.

I chatted with some women from the Philippines and some from Vietnam. Was a little rough at first, ran into plenty of women that would bring up $$$, or family trouble they needed help with right away (also involving money). Then I met my wife. We exchanged a few emails and next thing you know we are chatting on Skype while she it at work and spending 8-12 hours per night Skyping with webcams, just hanging out like long distance couples do. She would watch tv, I would play games, whatever, just being together was the most important thing. It was just comfortable and flowed naturally. She had joined the site herself as she had broken up with her bf some months before and wanted something different. She knew english really well as she had studied from like 3 years when she was in College in Vietnam.

I went to Vietnam about 4 months after we met online. I was still a little worried of course, flying half way around the world to meet a girl I met online. not knowing how any of this would go. Well it went great!! and I went back 6 times over the next 2 years.

It was INCREDIBLY difficult with the distance, and really only being able to see each other 1 or 2 times per year for like 3 weeks. We mad it through though, and on OCT 11 of 2015 my mother and grandmother went with me to Vietnam and we got married there. She came back with me that time and things are going very well here. We love each other a lot, cultural differences and her adjusting to the USA way of things can be difficult at times but overall its been way easier than I thought. I am just really glad we don't have to be separated anymore, all of that time apart physically actually strengthened our relationship I think as it REALLY made us work on our communication.

-dave-gonzo

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10/14. I'm actually the child of one of these relationships. My father is originally from New Zealand, and my mother, 3 brothers and I are from Thailand. We came over to live with him when I was around 4 years old (15 years ago) and my brothers were 6,9 and 11. I don't remember my real father very well, but he died when I about a year after I was born. Anyway, my mother and new father are around the same age, and as far as I can remember, they've really loved each other. It wasn't like that at first I don't think, but they soon made a connection and we are still a happy family to this day!

-Jew_Monkey

11/14. A co-worker of mine did. he was in his mid-40's not horrible looking but worked incredibly long hours (he is a tool maker, class A machinist), he went through a horrible divorce has two kids, his now X-wife (from what he tells me) is an awful person (I've never met her, just go on what he tells me).

One day, He wasn't in work, I ask our boss where he is, he said he used all his vacation time and took a few weeks unpaid, to travel. good for him I thought to myself.

When he came back, I ask him how his trip went, and he pulls out this big ass photo book, said he went to Vietnam, and got married, then shows me his picture book of the whole trip.

The woman he married was drop dead gorgeous, literally a 9/10. He said he went through a website, got linked up to her, conversed though email, then phone, he took the trip there, liked her and married her, and took her home. he then shows me a pic of all her sisters and cousins that are "Available" ...

She basically does everything for him, and he treats her like gold and talked about her all the time. She speaks broken English (better than most that i've encountered) but is currently going to school to learn English as well.

I was floored at first, but he truly loves her, I've since left that job, but from people I've kept in contact with from there say they are still together and now have a child.

-Corix

12/14. I bought a mail order bride if buying her picture and address counts as buying her. This was from Cherry Blossoms, in 1984 , when it was under different management and, obviously, pre-internet. (Continued)

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I wrote to 35 women all over the far east, 17 of which thought I was worth writing back to. There was one stand out and by the end of 2 months she was the only one I was still writing to.

After 6 months I went to her country to meet her. The Immigration and Naturalization Service requires a face to face meeting before any type of visa will be issued. Here is where you start to spend real money, not for her but on air-fare. The face to face meeting confirmed what we already knew. We liked each other and wanted to get married. By the way she is the same age as me, holds 2 Bachelors degrees, father was a lawyer. That eliminates the "Gold diggers" that most people claim these women are. After another 6 months of writing back and forth she came to the USA and we were married 10 days later.

-CanonFan

13/14. My uncle is married to a wonderful "mail order bride." He's socially awkward; she's warm, gregarious and funny. They've been together probably 18 years and they have a great, well-adjusted kid.

As a teen, I thought it was such a weird relationship. I imagined, for her, that it was very shallow and lacking in fulfillment. Now, I can see that they both got a better life her financial situation improved, as well as that of her family back home. She has a beautiful child, and she married into a pretty nice family. For my uncle's part, he has a wife and daughter who care about him and help him navigate the world.

I adore her mostly because she was so good to my grandmother (uncle's mom). She visited her all the time, called her "mom," made sure her daughter (she's my cousin even though she's younger than my own kids) had a solid relationship with grandma. All in all, I think my uncle seriously lucked out by meeting such a great bride."

-common_cactus

14/14. I think an old high school buddy of mine did this. Went off to college on the west coast, came back with a Thai wife who barely spoke any English. He spoke a bit of Thai, but not much. They were together for about 3 years, then she just up and disappeared one morning. Leaving their son behind. Not sure what happened to her. He claimed she went back to see her family.

Have you ever found yourself in an argument so stupid and/or pointless that you were sure you were being punked? Like you keep looking away from the other person to check your surroundings for places Ashton Kutcher and a camera crew could come popping out of?

Brace yourselves, folks. Some of these arguments are breathtakingly bonkers. The sheer number of people who are willing to argue with someone over provable facts and what that other person likes or doesn't like is just ... stunning. It's stunning, you guys. Just not in a good way.

Saturdays

My husband and I have this thing where we only say "I love you" on Saturdays. Every other day it's "I love you, but only on Saturdays." I don't know how it started, but it's been going for 11 years now.

We're both shiftworkers, so sometimes we have to stop and think what day it actually is. We had an argument recently over whether it was Saturday or not. I said it was Saturday, he said it was Friday. It was Monday.

Iraq

I remember when I was about 13 my parents had an hour-long shouting match that ended with them almost getting divorced. The issue? Whether or not the nation of Iraq has a coastline.

My mother arguing that Iraq had a coastline, while my stepdad argued that it did not. This was back in 2004, and they are still quite happily married to this day. That incident is something they look back on and laugh about, and both of them admit it was really a pretty stupid thing to argue over.

Mini Wheats

When we were kids my brother and I got in a physical fight because he said I like mini wheats and I insisted I didn't. His argument was that I always sang the mini wheats song and I was deeply offended that he wasn't aware that it was just stuck in my head but I hated the cereal. I actually did like the cereal I'm not sure why I was arguing with him about it but I remember how genuinely angry I was.

Crayons

I'll tell you about the only legal trouble I've ever been in, the fight that got me arrested. It started over whether we should return a box of crayons or not, and to this day I don't have any idea how it escalated to the point of the cops being called, but they were and I was the one taken in.

That's Unfair

My boyfriend insisted that when two people are in an argument and one makes a point so reasonable and logical the other one can't disagree with it - it's unfair. I tried, logically and reasonably, to explain several times why that is just winning the argument, proving your point thoroughly and is completely fair.

Emailing NASA

A Non-Standard Ruler?

I worked for a company that made signs. We had a customer ask for signs that were 7mm wide that were to go on a door. Our sign makers figured the order meant inches because 7mm is pretty small, so made them 7 inches. I got a phone call from the customer who went mad at me for making them the wrong size. So I put a reorder through for 7 mm.

Argued with the sign makers over it but they eventually agreed to do it after I shown them the order in writing. I even had the customer put her complaint in writing, reiterating the size they wanted.

7mm signs went out and a day later I get the customer on the phone literally screaming at me.

Cue the dumb argument - we ended up having an argument over how big a millimetre is, and obviously everyone in the office were laughing, but this customer just wouldn't accept it and said we must be using a non-standard ruler to measure.

Ended up being escalating to the sales department manager who refused to issue a refund. We still don't know what they actually meant.

This Unusual Vegan Argument

Was in a pub with a few friends, and some random Dude dropped an ear, and somehow figured I'm vegan. Well, people like him are the reason I usually avoid mentioning it. He came up to me and insisted on starting a discussion about veganism. He claimed that by the end of it, I would be eating meat again.

He listed some stupid arguments, I told him I was not convinced and then tried to keep on drinking beer with my friends. He followed me, and wanted me to "try to convert him to a vegan." I stupidly listed some of my reasons thinking it would make him go away. He told me he still was not convinced, so I was like whatever. Again, I really just wanted to drink beer with my friends.

That dude followed me all night and expected me to try make him vegan. Doesn't matter what I said, and all the reasons that for me are obviously good enough to be vegan. He'd be just like "No, that doesn't convince me, therefore your argument and how you life is stupid."

Didn't matter how often I told him that I honestly don't care; 5 minutes later he would come up to me again "I'm still not vegan, so veganism is stupid, all your arguments were stupid, now give me a good reason to become vegan!" At one point, I was literally yelling at him that I don't give a single flying f about what he eats and why, that it's in no way my responsibility to "turn somebody vegan" and in no way his business what I eat.

Honestly, for that dude, I would have bought a whole ham, just to shove it up his stupid annoying face.

Monty Python

In college my roommate and I argued about a line in Monty Python & the Holy Grail. The scene with the Black Knight where the line "Alright, we'll call it a draw" is uttered. We argued about who said that line, whether it was King Arthur or the Black Knight.

It went on for hours longer than it should have because I was stubborn and refused to admit I was wrong.

Albert or Arnold

Below Sea Level

I live on an island and when you go upland and you look out the sea looks like it's higher than or on the same level as the land. It's just a weird perspective thing because of the horizon. One day some kid says that it's because the island is under sea level.

I'm like wtf bro all of us would be with the fishes. He argues that no that's not true and if I just go upland I'll see. We then spend a good 5 minutes of my time arguing about it until I decided to leave this kid in his stupidity. He even said we shouldn't believe everything adults tell us and sometimes we need to think for ourselves.

This kid was older than me and was going to a good school. Lost my respect for him ever since then.

Tomash

Now, my name is in a lot of languages with slightly different spellings. I would have accepted any of those spellings, but this one was just... Not even close. It didn't make any logical sense.

An analogous example is if my name was Thomas and someone was insisting it was spelled Tomash. And not just the name Thomas in general, but that me specifically, on my birth certificate, was named Tomash. I know how to spell my own name.

Whales Are Mammals

I was in an online chat room one day, and we were talking about whales. I commented on how whales are mammals and the next thing you know, someone was arguing with me and trying to convince me that a whale was a fish.

Shower Schedule

No Balloons For Grandma

My cousin and I argued over a balloon going to Heaven. We were at his big sisters prom send off and he let a balloon go and it went high into the sky.

He then said this balloon will go up past space and go to Heaven and reach grandma (God rest her soul). And I was like no it's not and it's probably not even gonna reach space. Releasing balloons is terrible for the environment and kills/harms so much wildlife.

He got really mad and defensive and started telling me to google it and do my research and I'm like I don't have to google it you idiot. He was mad at me for a good week.

Spontaneous Dolphin Existence

How dolphins reproduced. It took me a few solid minutes of explaining to her that dolphins have reproductive organs and that they did not just pop into existence. The argument began with her saying she wanted to work with sea creatures.

Personally, I hope she was messing with me cause I lost a little faith in humanity that day.

Male Chickens

Lightning McQueen

Me and my friend were drinking underage, we ended up in an argument of whether lightning McQueen's eyes were blue or green. Somehow throughout the whole thing both of us never thought to straight up google a picture.

Andre 2000?

I'm late, but I saw this question and instantly remembered that I was booted from a Facebook group because I called someone out on a lie that was not only bull, but extremely pointless. She was friends with the moderator and they made the case that my argument over such a little lie was more of a problem than the lie itself (though they didn't refer to it as a lie.)

The woman said that she used to babysit for Andre 3000 and that his name was Andre 2000 - but he changed it after the year 2000 had passed. This was so easily disproven it was ridiculous. Their debut album came out in 1994 and he was already going by Andre 3000 at that time.

The argument wasn't a huge long drawn out thing, but the fact that either of us were on Facebook at separate times meant that the responses were over a long period of time so this argument lasted a few days.

Stars Like Our Sun

Richard Nixon

I have a degree in history. I mostly focused on nationalism. Wrote a 50 page paper on it and Richard Nixon with around 50 100 sources. Looked at micro film for hours on end. Part of the paper focused on how Nixon being chair of the house committee of Unamerican Activities was used as a powerful weapon to use against political enemies. It also inspired Joe McCarthy. Have had people tell me I was wrong and Nixon was never elected to a position besides the president and Joe McCarthy came before Nixon. I stopped trying to talk history to people.

I also know quite a bit about the history of the Balkans its amazing how many Serbs refuse to believe Tito did anything wrong.

Wrote 100 page paper on nationalism in Israel. Its frustrating to talk about because for some reason a lot of people think Palestinian firing rockets randomly into Israel is ok but if Israel retaliates the people get up in arms over a targeted air strike that kills 3 people.

Balloon to Heaven

My cousin and I argued over a balloon going to Heaven. We were at his big sisters prom send off and he let a balloon go and it went high into the sky. He then said this balloon will go up past space and go to Heaven and reach grandma (God rest her soul). And I was like no it's not and it's probably not even gonna reach space.

And he got really mad and defensive and started telling me to google it and do my research and I'm like I don't have to google it you idiot. He was mad at me for a good week.

Binder Clips

I got into an argument with a co-worker over how we were attaching two pages of a letter together: small binder clips or paper clips.

He felt that paper clips would leave a "dent" in the paper when removed, but binder clips won't. He refused to staple them together. I felt that binder clips would also leave a "dent", so we might as well just use the paper clips.

It ended with him saying: "Do what you want [me], I don't care!" and storming off.

Lingerie Boxes

Late to the party, but there it is.

I'm a manager at a small store. We're only 4 working there, so my team and I grew very close and we joke around a lot. Once during a slow shift, my employee and I had an argument because we were looking at the lingerie boxes, and I thought that two specific boxes had the same woman on it, but she was 100% positive they weren't the same person.

Looking back, I don't know why it was such a big deal to us at the time, but we even called another employee who lives across the street to come and tell us what the heck was up with that. Turns out I was right, and she was pretty salty about it. It was a great night.

Wicked Witch of the West

I almost got into an argument with an old girlfriend over Glinda the good witch from Oz. She insisted that Glinda was manipulating Dorothy to assassinate the Wicked Witch of the West and convince the Wizard to leave to create a political void she could fill.

I conceded the issue when I heard the whole premise because I thought it was too damn stupid to get worked up over.

Keep Your Hands to Yourself

Just the other day I legit got in an argument with my co-workers on why I don't like my butt being grabbed by anyone (I'm a guy). Seriously.

They went on about "I don't mind it. Mike and I do it all the time and we don't care." Yeah, that's nice dude, but I'm not you, and there's something called "Keep your hands to yourself" (which was taught to a good portion of us growing up). Just like how Karen wouldn't like it if I touched her boobs or her grabbing your crotch or frankly ANY area you wouldn't like being grabbed, keep away. In general, you should not be touching me in any areas after I've told you not to several times before.

Telekinesis

My best friend and I argued over whether or not telekinesis was possible. Her argument was that humans don't yet know what the human brain at 100% usage was capable of, and that telekinesis was inside the possibilities.

Ghosts

How dolphins reproduced and whether or not ghost existed (back to back with the same person). It took me a few solid minutes of explaining to her that dolphins have reproductive organs and that they did not just pop into existence (the argument began with her saying she wanted to work with sea creatures).

How it shifted to the existence of ghosts is a solid and reasonable question to ask (I don't remember why). I had to then proceed to tell her that ghost hunting TV shows do not constitute as undeniable evidence.

Personally, I hope she was messing with me cause I lost a little faith in humanity that day. This was in high school SO... hopefully she was kidding.

Dogs and Chocolate

I told this stupid woman that chocolate is toxic to dogs. She went on to tell me how a little bit will just make them hyper and then they will calm down. I told her to google it. Her and her bf shut right up. Now they have a kid. Good luck, Jeremy and Andrea. morons.

I should also add that this argument started because Jeremy was giving his tiny dog chocolate and I told him it was toxic.

Is water wet?

Mission Trip

A kid a church telling me about the mission trip I went on. Not only was I not on that trip, but I had never been on any mission trip. We were good friends, so it's not like he would've mistaken someone else for me.

He insisted I was there as if an entire week long trip would just fall out of my memory. He even had stories of things we'd done together. I'm not sure if he thought I was lying, joking, stupid, or crazy, but I was pretty sure he was some combination thereof.

Dragon Tales

One time I got into a shouting match with my mom and little brother in the car. The issue? The names of the two-headed dragon from the PBS kids afternoon show Dragon Tales. I swore it was Zack and Macie.

It was actually Zak and Wheezie. I don't even remember why we were yelling about it.

Green Or Yellow?

When I was about 15 or so my mother and I spent about 20-30 minutes arguing about the color of a shirt. We agreed it was blue/green, but to me it was just a shade more blue, while to her it was just a bit more green.

Turns out, your eyeballs yellow as you age and hers were 24 years yellower than mine, so I think that skewed her color vision.

Stars In Their Multitude

I once got in an argument over whether or not a line from the song "Stars" in Les Mis says "...but mine is the way of the lord" or "mine is the way of the law".

I didn't even really care what he thought but he was so adamant and cocky that it got me heated. By the end of it we were shouting at each other and I had to apologize, which I think is what he wanted the whole time.

Biology Class

I had an argument with a girl IN THE MIDDLE OF A BIOLOGY CLASS in high school about how humans are not mammals. She thought a human was a human and we are not mammals because "mammals are animals and humans are not animals"

I tried explaining to her the difference between reptiles and mammals and how humans fall under the mammal category to try and educate her... but she just wouldn't listen.

Solid Or Liquid?

Some classmates and I got into a heated debate as to whether or not the human body could count as a soup, salad, or sandwich. The teacher got mad at us, but hey! All we were doing was watching a movie.

For the record, my logic lays with soup- Liquid contained within a solid, at a hot temperature.